Abstract

Diffractive optical elements can be realized by fabricating surface relief structures with features shorter than the wavelength of light.^1-4 These structure have the properties of homogeneous layers of material but with effective indexes of refraction determined by the duty cycle of the surface features. Lateral variations in those duty cycles lead to lateral gradients in refractive index and, potentially, surface elements with very high diffraction efficiencies.

© 1996 Optical Society of America